Friday, February 17, 2017

Why Is Everything so Expensive These Days?

I'd never heard of "cost disease," but apparently
it's a real—and inexplicable—phenomenon. Here's one description:

In the past 50 years, education costs have doubled, college costs have
dectupled, health insurance costs have dectupled, subway costs have at least dectupled, and housing costs have
increased by about 50 percent. US health care costs about four times as much as equivalent health care in other
First World countries; US subways cost about eight times as much as equivalent subways in other First World
countries.

I worry that people don't appreciate how weird this is. I didn't appreciate it
for a long time. I guess I just figured that Grandpa used to talk about how back in his day movie tickets only
cost a nickel; that was just the way of the world. But all of the numbers above are inflation-adjusted.
These things have dectupled in cost even after you adjust for movies costing a nickel in Grandpa's day.
They have really, genuinely dectupled in cost, no economic trickery involved.

The author then notes that studies show that the
quality of all these services has not improved significantly, if at all. He suggests eight or nine possible reasons
for all this, only to conclude about the most honest way to talk about this phenomenon (author's caps):

Libertarian-minded people keep talking about how there's too much red tape and
the economy is being throttled. And less libertarian-minded people keep interpreting it as not caring about the
poor, or not understanding that government has an important role in a civilized society, or as a "dog whistle" for
racism, or whatever. I don't know why more people don't just come out and say "LOOK, REALLY OUR MAIN PROBLEM IS
THAT ALL THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS COST TEN TIMES AS MUCH AS THEY USED TO FOR NO REASON, PLUS THEY SEEM TO BE GOING
DOWN IN QUALITY, AND NOBODY KNOWS WHY, AND WE'RE MOSTLY JUST DESPERATELY FLAILING AROUND LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS
HERE."

I've
tried to fulfill my vow not to link to Trump articles every week, but I
keep on running across fresh insights—in this case, why exactly eight
in ten white evangelicals voted for him. Like most, I had thought the
main things were abortion and replacing a Supreme Court justice—more
ideological reasons. It turns out, both of these items ranked much lower
than the two top (practical!) concerns. See Myths Debunked: Why Did White Evangelical Christians Vote for Trump?

I'm composing this on Valentine's Day, so I'm thinking
about love. And this piece does a good job of reminding us of the difference between
love as we're apt to conceive it and love as it is at its highest—and most practical.

"Man will always be a miracle and a puzzle to himself. … He will not
be of the opinion that he has made even the slightest contribution to [his being pardoned by God]. He will rather
confess freely and frankly that his own contribution is only his own great corruption, in which without any
co-operation or merit of his own, he is found by the divine pardon—not in his self-judgment but in the
judgment of God—reached and converted to God and set on the way to his right and life."

SPOKEN BEATS

Faces of Africa

PROFILING OUR CLERGY

GOLDEN HILL

SAN DIEGO DOWNTOWN

ONCE AGAIN

“So once again, I, the LORD All-Powerful, tell you, "See that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another! Don't mistreat widows or orphans or foreigners or anyone who is poor, and stop making plans to hurt each other."Zechariah 7:9-10 CEV

CITY HEIGHTS

NorthPark~San Diego, California USA

CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR MORE ABOUT NORTH PARK

CHRISTIANS IN RECOVERY

The International Christian Recovery Coalition is launching a new worldwide movement to establish Christian Recovery Resource Centers beginning January 1, 2011. These centers will provide access for Christians in recovery and those who want God’s help in overcoming alcoholism, drug addiction, at-risk behavior, and life-controlling problems. Full details on how to join and participate can be found on www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com.

We are especially hoping to see one or more centers established in the San Diego area.

NPCA

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After all, Brethren, the whole end of Theology is love. It seems hard to realize that that is so, but so it is. If your theology does not make you more loving, it has not Christianized you and to that extent is not a Christian theology... All ecclesiasticism and all doctrinalizing are in order to form character, and the soul of character is love. Preach the truth in love, and for the development of love.... Nathaniel J. Burton (1822-1887)